Pay with Less than 1-year Exp

While it's always possible to let the bad apples slip through or be bamboozled by an amazing story... reference checks and Great interviewing should weed out many of the folks that aren't a good fit for the job. My opinion to be a great company you have to have great people.. you get great people by being picky on whom you let represent your company. Whether new to the industry or veteran, if you have a good hiring interviewer/team you can weed out most poor fits before you invest too much.

 

Bill,
I don't have any experience in pulling a van around but I did work for Prime for a little while back in 05 and I was started out at .34CPM pulling a reefer. Now I know van is going to start a little bit cheaper then that but I am just giving my input on the pay, I would list my pay when I was pulling a flatbed for my first year at TMC but that is a totally different ballgame.

As for hiring somebody with 6 months experience, I don't know if its really long enough for a person to decide if they enjoy OTR trucking enough to make it a career or just say screw it I am done. Then again the company in which they work at, equipment they drive, and fleet manager/dispatcher that person deals with on a daily basis has a lot to do with there attitudes and feelings about there jobs. One of my best friends drives for Swift pulling open deck and is still in his first year, been at it now for almost 9 months and he hates Swift! He loves trucking, driving around the country getting to see friends all over the place from the Marine Corp days, and making money to do it. Now if he worked somewhere like F2F or just somewhere that should I say, has there ish together, he would absolutely love everything about trucking! Now his trainer that he had on the other hand would probably cost more to employ then the money he makes for Swift every year. That is the kind of guy you don't want to see coming into your office for an interview, you would probably have that bigbad part of Bill come out! LOL Like said earlier and you already know this but, having 10+ years in the industry means nothing if your one of the drivers like that guy was. Sorry to ramble!

Simply put let the potential employees get the 6-12 months of experience elsewhere like you already stated, come to you with an ambitious attitude, wanting to expand and better the knowledge they have on the trucking industry as a whole and mold them into the drivers that you want and see this industry needing! One of the perks of working for you and seeing the O/Ops that you have leased to F2F should give that driver even more drive if that is what they want to eventually do! Then in the long run you have molded company drivers to your standards or an O/O who was previously employed by you that knows your system, knows you, and knows the kind of freight he will deal with on a daily basis. No getting use to a new system!

 

I do apologize but reread and stand by my statement. It just seemed you were taking a shot at a dead horse.I suppose you will be happy when everyone is making .30/mile. I work for a small non union fleet right now which includes 3 preachers and they are everything you described above.
I suppose you've heard of all those crews the non union mega fleet companies employ that do nothing but go out and retrieve trucks which have been vandalized and abandoned by disgruntled drivers. Trucking today is made up of lost souls chasing big bucks and empty dreams after their job has been exported south of the border.

 

In theory the percentage plan sounds cool, but I'd be very leery.

What happens when the truck's mpg takes a major turn to the worse? In December my mpg dropped from 7.3 to 6.0 mpg. While there was significantly more idle due to the weather, not enough to explain over a mile a gallon loss. Who is going to pay the $100 an hour for the shop to figure out what's wrong? If I owned the truck and were responsible for all costs I'd be doing everything I could, up to and including animal sacrafice, to get my mpg back up. If one guys owns the truck and has to pay major repairs, but the other guy is responsible for the fuel purchases there will be some conflict of interest.

What about deadhead milage? If the fleet owner is selecting the loads would they be more willing to eat a couple hundred more deadhead miles knowing they don't have to eat the fuel cost?

F2F's reputation is such that I think y'all would do the right thing, but as a driver looking at just the compensation package it makes my spidey sense tingle.

 

After reading your post I have to respond, you are 100% your thinking. I am currently in the process of becoming an otr driver with 15+ yrs experience in local straight trucks. (concrete mixers) Most of my driving was between the ages of 18-34 and after 20 years away from it I went back to driving mixers for a few months last fall.
The ability of the drivers to preform basic skills I witnessed last fall was scary bad but was far worse was the drivers inability to comprehend what it takes for a company to make money. MY first 16 yrs I worked for family in a non-union situation and the 35+ drivers were making a comparable wage and had no problem working the 50-60hrs a week, i.e. bigger paychecks. My latest job was a union job that payed $25 hr and when they went into the city area it rose $5hr and 80% of the work was at the higher wage. Turned out the top 10-15 drivers never took anymore than 40 hrs and a lot worked less hrs, their choice. Toward the end of the fall there was a picket line problem that these same drivers had no problem with for months but suddenly objected. Company was pissed and simply cut the drivers out of city work and re-routed the work to there other plants, which led to laying off half of the driver force. It is not because of the unions this happened but because of the lazy, un-informed, poorly skilled members. As human beings we naturally try to run things until it don't work anymore. The definition of stupid is asking for more and more without 1) proving your worth it and 2) not caring about anyone but yourself.
That's not to say the otr drivers are any different but I will know my rate a mile and what I will need to do to maximize it.

 

I think your concept is wrong. Wages like everything else is supply and demand. You can get drivers for $500. You cannot get me. You can get drivers for 800. You cannot get me. I have never worked for less then 1000 per week. Never. Well not since 1980 anyway. I have only been driving since 2005. I don't need money as I have enough but I don't work cheap or for free.

I am working for a two truck company right now. That is right TWO trucks. They will be adding a third sometime so PM me.

The pay structure here is different. I pay $300 per week for the use of the truck and trailer. That is deducted. Gas comes off the top. I get 47% of the net pay after that. It is very fair as I see all bills. I also get to deal with brokers if I want to. I am free to make my own home time. This is the ideal halfway step between company driver and Owner Operator. Is it a new truck, no. It is a 2007 Columbia. Not the one I will buy. I am only getting 5.4 MPG and it is an automatic. I have no idea how to improve. I drive 65. I could drive 62 but I don't want to. It will run 80.

So far the loads have paid well. Not going to tell you how well or where we run but I have never made this kind of money as a driver before.

Now the bad part is that it is a 1099 company so you have to manage your taxes and pay for your own insurance. Also, you have to learn how to make decisions on maintenance and do as much work as you can to save money. But that is exactly what an owner operator does. Like I said, it is the next step.

You are wanting to figure out how much to pay. You are wanting to pay as little as possible. You might succeed but you won't attracted the people who will help you build the company. You need partner drivers not employees.

The man I work for understands this.

Good luck to you.

 

Now the bad part is that it is a 1099 company so you have to manage your taxes and pay for your own insurance.

This is illegal and just one of truckings black eyes. Mostly overlooked,but occasionally enforced.